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The Lowdown is
compiled by DN Journal Editor & Publisher Ron
Jackson.

With
New Owners Onboard NamesCon Ready for Record
Breaking 2017 Event in Las Vegas

The
4th annual edition of NamesCon,
the domain industry's biggest event
for domain investors, developers and
service providers, is almost here.
The big show will be held January
22-25, 2017 at the Tropicana
Hotel in Las Vegas with
as many as 1,500 attendees expected
to be on hand.

A
lot has happened since the 2016
conference - most
notably World Hosting Days (WHD)
purchasing NamesCon, with WHD and
NamesCon then both being swallowed
up by GoDaddy as part of
their acquisition of Host Europe
Group (HEG owned WHD).

To
find out how being part of the
GoDaddy/HEG/WHD empire would affect
the upcoming show - as well as
NamesCon in the long run - I
connected with conference Co-Founder
Richard
Lau to get the lowdown.

"It's
been an amazingly easy transition,"
Lau began. "The NamesCon
team has been expanding over the
past few conferences. Terri
Potratz is doing even more than
ever and has been continuing to take
on more of what both Jothan
Frakes and I were doing
in the initial years."

Richard
Lau
NamesCon Co-Founder

"With the change of ownership,
we were told that World Hosting Days
would come in as a supporting
role and true to their word,
that has been exactly what has taken
place. We have a strong team here
with Shallom, Stephanie
and Terri all working from
our Vancouver office and as
you can expect, our on the ground
team swells to over 30 staff
in Las Vegas during the conference.
We will also have team members from
WHD coming over from Germany
so it's an opportunity for everyone
to meet new faces!

Regarding
GoDaddy's blockbuster acquisition of
WHD's parent company Lau said.
"As much as I am immensely
proud of what we have built in the
last three years, honestly, I highly
doubt that NamesCon was really
playing into the asset mix when
GoDaddy was looking at World Hosting
Day's parent company. I would guess
that GoDaddy will leave WHD and thus
NamesCon to run completely
independently. As the saying
goes, if it ain't broke....

!"

2016
NamesCon attendees begin filling the
Conference Center
at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas
for the start of last January's
show.

NamesCon
certainly doesn't appear to need
"fixing". The event has
gotten bigger and better every year
and Lau said that will be true of
2017 as well. "We have
streamlined the agenda with clear
start times, more seating, with an
aim for a smoother flow of talent
across the stages," Lau said.
"I think our sessions this year
were alreadycompletely
full a month before the
conference. With a bursting agenda,
we know that you'll want easy access
to the agenda and speakers. We'll
have a printed conference guide as
usual, and we have added a mobile
app this year. It's available in
both the iOS App Store, as
well as in Google Play, and
it will be an indispensable tool
that everyone will need to download
this year in order to get the most
out of the conference."

A
scene from NamesCon's busy Network
Lane on opening day at the 2016
show.

Asked
about some of the specific sessions
he is especially excited about, Lau
noted, "The conference kicks
off Sunday (January 22, 2017)
at 11am and our Network
Lane on Sunday from Noon-6pm
will be a hit again. The networking
parties set for Sunday night, Monday
night and Tuesday night are all
different from one-another and
are all "can't miss"
events. The Executive Round Table
on Wednesday (January 25)at
2pm is always a highlight for
hearing insights from the industry
leaders in a format you don't see
anywhere else.

"

After
several years of lackluster results
at various events, live domain
auctions got "new
life" at NamesCon last January
when the show's sale, conducted by RightOfTheDot.com
(ROTD) and NameJet,
saw bids totaling nearly $1.5
million with a sale through rate
close to 70%. They will be
doing it again at the 2017
conference and the positive results
from the 2016 auction have convinced
owners of some top tier domains to
put them on the block January
23rd. "I'm personally amazed
at the quality of names coming
through," Lau said. "The bar.com
package for example is a
stop-in-your-tracks opportunity for
someone. Monte Cahn (ROTD)
and NameJet have done a great
job putting the list together and
there are a large number of one word
category killer domains that will
find new homes during the auction at
NamesCon.

"

A
full house at the 2016 NamesCon
RightOfTheDot/NameJet live
domain auction.

Lau
originally started NamesCon
primarily to raise funds for a
life-saving charity he is devoted to
- the WaterSchool
(this year's big WaterNight
Charity Gala will be held on
Tuesday night, January 24 at
the Tropicana). Once the January
conference is in the books and he
steps back from the role he has
played since launching NamesCon in
2014, I asked him about his future
plans. "I am hoping to cut back
on travel to take a bit of a break
from the neck-breaking speed of the
past few years," Lau said.
"I am still heavily
committed to WaterSchool and we
are looking at expanding local
fund-raising events with an eye to
seeing how those can be replicated
by volunteers throughout North
America and Europe."

Thanks
to a group of "super heroes"
who volunteered to have their heads
shaved to benefit the WaterSchool,
some unexpected last minute
volunteers, generous donors and
matching funds from NameCheap,
the 2016 WaterNight Charity Gala
at NamesCon raised $115,000
for the life saving organization.
Seen left to right after the
"deeds" were done are
barber Gregg McNair, shaveesOmar Ahmed (Uniregistry), Larry
Fischer (DirectNavigation.com),
attorney Derek Newman, Alan
Dunn (NameCorp) and NamesCon
Co-Founder Richard Lau (who
had his head shaved a few years back
at the first WaterNight).

While
he is looking forward to his
return to "civilian
life" Lau is ready to
make one more big splash
at NamesCon 2017.
"It will be the
largest commercial domain
conference ever, and our
goal is still to bring
together Registrars,
Registries, Domain
Investors, Advertisers, IP
management and Suppliers to
create a networking,
learning and co-operative
environment," Lau
said.

"The
support we have had since
the very first NamesCon has
been humbling. Uniregistry
has stepped up larger than
ever this coming conference,
and you will see their
footprint at NamesCon has
expanded alongside their
tremendous growth in the
industry. I'd like to think
NamesCon has helped
contribute to their success.
Uniregistry is our Name
Badge sponsor this year, and
as many people know, that's
a design
topic close to
my heart."

meetings
and other smaller meet-ups.
We know that NamesCon has
become a replacement for
many who would otherwise
attend an ICANN meeting. We
do make our conference easy to
get to and affordable
for everyone. Every meet-up,
meeting and conference has
its own personality -
at NamesCon we believe we
deliver the critical mass
of industry movers and
shakers at a value
proposition that is
irresistible to everyone
from new-comer to industry
vet. We'll see you in Las
Vegas!

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